Review of Hocus Pocus (1993) by Patricia W — 08 Nov 2017

Hocus Pocus is a family friendly film with plenty of laughs and fun for the Halloween season. 300 hundred years after the death of the Sanderson sisters a young sceptic lights the black flame candle bringing the witches back to life for one night to suck the lives out of little children. Although this film was received poorly at the time by most critics, this film is very enjoyable and wonderfully eccentric. The Sanderson sisters are by far the best part of the film and Bette Midler is the star of the show as Winifred Sanderson, giving an incredibly flamboyant and consistently cartoon like performance that is a joy to watch. Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy also have a lot of good comedic moments as the child-like Sarah Sanderson and the bumbling Mary Sanderson. Omri Katz and Vanessa Shaw have good chemistry as Max and Vinessa but Thora Birch really stands out as an excellent child actress, playing Dani, and steals every scene that she's in. Some of the themes and humour in the film are a little dark and perhaps a bit too mature for children, focussing too much on Max being a virgin and Sarah Sanderson in particular being overly sexualised for a family friendly film. However, from my own experience watching Hocus Pocus as a child, these references will go over most children's heads and not spoil the experience for them.

The sets, props and costumes are also well done and very detailed particularly the spell book with it's moving eye. The use of practical effects holds up quite well over time, especially the scenes where the witches fly on their brooms using rigs and wires instead of green screen. The music is also catchy and enjoyable and fits the theme of the film well, featuring a song performed by Bette Midler, of course, and another by Sarah Jessica Parker.

Overalll, although my opinion may be tainted by nostalgia, I still find this film thoroughly charming and fun. The theme of brother and sisterly bonds is nice and the new take on witches being bumbling and not understanding modern technology and conveniences is different and endearing. This is a perfect film to watch at Halloween if you don't want to watch something scary and it's no surprise to me that this film has become a cult classic.